Pomp and Circumstance at the University: The Origin of the Honorary Degree

Opinion on the age and origin of the honorary degree differs according to the region under study and the criteria used to define what precisely constitutes an honorary promotion. By applying a flexible definition of the honorary degree, and combining existing research on the background and origin of early honorary degrees in different regions, this article aims to offer an answer to the question of the origin of the tradition of conferring honorary degrees. The giving and receiving of honorary degrees emerged in a variety of situations. Such degrees were awarded by popes and emperors – or their representatives – who wished to honour their ‘disciples’. They were also granted to meritorious professionals seeking a way around the strict rules for academic promotion via a promotion in absentia. And they were granted by universities wishing to benefit from the prestige of the celebrities they honoured, or which offered these degrees to professors without a doctoral degree, as a practical answer to the need for academic ceremonies and/or by way of thanks to their friends and benefactors. The emergence of the honorary promotion can only be explained through a combination of all these factors.